Catholic hierarchy steering into dangerous waters
From Atrios: Church vs. Pro-Choice Catholic Democrats No More MNB documents another bit of selective outrage by some members of the Catholic church. You see, Kerry may be disinvited from the annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation dinner, a charity fundraiser sponsored by the New York Archdiocese. They were unconcerned in previous years with attendance by pro-Choice Catholics Giuliani and Pataki. No word on whether those two will be attending or not this year. By inflicting themselves on the American political process, the Catholic bishops who are publicly talking about denying communion to Kerry and other pro-choice Catholic politicians, they are endangering their own moral authority. There are a lot of Catholics who, regardless of their position on abortion, will rightly be leery of anyone attempting to command their vote. Given the multitude of problems the bishops are facing growing out of their misstewardship of the clergy sex abuse problem, they really should put their own house in order before potentially risking their tax-exempt status in order to selectively enforce their anti-abortion mandate on just a handful of liberal Democratic politicians (with whom, ironically and sadly, they agree on most other issues, such as immigration, fair labor practices, the environment, and opposition to the death penalty). This is not the time for them to raise their profile in such an intrusive way. -- Tom Beck my LiveJournal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/tomfodw/ New York (Football) Giants: http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/Go_Big_Blue/ _The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop._ Fan Club: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/j_henry_waugh/ I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I never thought I'd see the last. - Dr. Jerry Pournelle --___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Prince Hal vs. King Henry
From The American Prospect: Prince Hal vs. King Henry When it comes to maturity, Kerry is light years ahead of Bush. By Harold Meyerson Web Exclusive: 04.29.04 In the course of the past week an odd double standard has emerged in the presidential campaign. Every sentence and gesture of the young John Kerry has been scrutinized -- and often deliberately misinterpreted -- for signs of insincerity, self-promotion, lack of patriotism and fledgling Francophilia. The sentences and gestures of the young George W. Bush, on the other hand, remain shrouded in obscurity. You don't build a record if you don't show up, and that's exactly what Bush did during the Vietnam War. The Republicans have subjected Kerry's time in Vietnam to the kind of going-over normally accorded war criminals. Did he really deserve that third Purple Heart? How big, exactly, was that piece of shrapnel that had to be removed from his left arm? We could, I suppose, ask an equivalent question of Bush, but only if they awarded Purple Hearts for paper cuts incurred in the campaign headquarters of the Republican Senate candidate for whom Bush worked during the year he was supposed to be serving with the Air National Guard in Alabama. Kerry's leadership of Vietnam veterans who opposed the war has also come under attack. Last week a gang of Republican congressmen took to the House floor to charge that Kerry had undermined the war effort and betrayed his comrades in arms. What he did was nothing short of aiding and abetting the enemy, said Texas Rep. Sam Johnson, who then took to calling Kerry Hanoi John. What Kerry did, in actuality, was provide a forceful voice and prudent guidance to a movement of angry men who had sacrificed for their country in a war that, by 1971, no longer had a plausible purpose but nonetheless continued to rage. By the time Kerry appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and posed his memorable question -- How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake? -- it was plain that no one in the Nixon administration really believed that the war could be won. The war not only dragged on, however, but Nixon expanded it to Cambodia (a decision that predictably destabilized the regime of Prince Norodom Sihanouk and in turn helped bring the Khmer Rouge to power). A number of antiwar activists, veterans among them, responded with a kind of crazed desperation, proposing increasingly confrontational actions. Like many antiwar leaders of the time, Kerry was fighting a two-front war: against the administration in the court of public opinion but also against those of his comrades who wanted to direct the movement into self-destructive spasms of rage. It was precisely because Kerry's impulses were so mainstream that the Nixon White House feared him. Nixon didn't sit around with his goon squad of Bob Haldeman and Chuck Colson plotting against Kerry because they thought Kerry was Hanoi John. On the contrary, Kerry had to be taken down because his patriotism was so glaringly obvious. He had, after all, joined the service despite the grave doubts -- to which he gave voice in his Yale class oration in the spring of 1966 -- he harbored about the war. He had thrown himself in harm's way repeatedly while skippering swift boats in the Mekong Delta. He had worked to build an effective, law-abiding antiwar movement. Such men were dangerous. There are days in this campaign when Kerry must think he's still up against Nixon and his thugs. The same slanders that Dick and his boys cooked up then -- Kerry as dangerous radical, Kerry as inauthentic liberal -- are being served up now by Nixon's ethical heirs. Did Kerry make mistakes during his years in the antiwar movement? Sure he did, beginning with his studied (but clumsy) ambiguity about the fate of his medals and ribbons. But what is the standard we judge him by? When Kerry was fighting in Vietnam, and then fighting to change a disastrous policy at home, Bush had become the invisible man to his fellow aviators in the National Guard; Dick Cheney had, by his own admission, other priorities than the war and picked up four separate draft deferments, and junior exterminator Tom DeLay was risking life and limb in a daily battle against termites. Bush, in his own words, was young and irresponsible, and Kerry all but reeked of responsibility. Bush was Prince Hal and Kerry King Henry and, when it comes to maturity of judgment, they remain so to this day. Harold Meyerson is the Prospects editor-at-large. This story originally appeared in The Washington Post. Copyright 2004 by The American Prospect, Inc. Preferred Citation: Harold Meyerson, Prince Hal vs. King Henry, The American Prospect Online, Apr 29, 2004. This article may not be resold, reprinted, or redistributed for compensation of any kind without prior written permission from the
Re: Battlestar Galactica
Space: Above and Beyond had a great first season, then it seemed like they started to run out of ideas by the end of the 2nd season. Except...it only _had_ one season... (http://epguides.com/SpaceAboveandBeyond/) -- Tom Beck my LiveJournal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/tomfodw/ New York (Football) Giants: http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/Go_Big_Blue/ _The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop._ Fan Club: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/j_henry_waugh/ I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I never thought I'd see the last. - Dr. Jerry Pournelle -- ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: ReptiliKlan Florida Land Grab
Floridas constitution allows governments to take your land for a public purpose, such as a road or school, as long as you receive a fair price. But legislation which could be approved this week would allow a city or county to take an individuals land, with fair compensation, and sell it to a private developer for a shopping center or office building. This is very similar to how George W. Bush, when he was an owner of the Texas Rangers, got the Ballpark at Arlington built. The Texas legislature passed a bill permitting them to condemn privately owned land for the stadium. And some of Bush's partners (including the current owner) went around the Dallas area condemning parcels of land that had nothing whatsoever to do with the stadium project but which they wanted for their own private development projects. They had to pay the actual owners, but were able to force them to sell whether or not they wanted to. -- Tom Beck my LiveJournal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/tomfodw/ New York (Football) Giants: http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/Go_Big_Blue/ _The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop._ Fan Club: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/j_henry_waugh/ I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I never thought I'd see the last. - Dr. Jerry Pournelle -- ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Ultimate Chutzpah
Yesterday Dick Cheney blasted John Kerrey for voting in the Senate against various defense spending bills. It turns out, the Bush Administration REQUESTED most of those cuts! Cheney: Kerrey voted against defense spending. Reporter: But, sir...you ASKED him to vote against those defense spending bills! Cheney: That's irrelevant. The fact is, he voted against defense spending. This is most blatant chutzpah since Colin Ferguson acted as his own defense attorney in the LIRR shooting and asked his own victims if they recognized the man who had shot them. -- Tom Beck my LiveJournal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/tomfodw/ New York (Football) Giants: http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/Go_Big_Blue/ I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I never thought I'd see the last. - Dr. Jerry Pournelle --___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Collected thoughs on Iraq
Brahmini is also reversing the US process of de-Baathification - many of his appointees held positions of authority under Saddam. He may have good reason (presumably their technical knowledge and experience) but one wonders how he can keep undoing what the US has done and still create something effective in a couple of months. Many of them are relatively low level. Brahmini is trying to regain at least some of the goodwill of Sunnis who feel completely shut out of post-Saddam Iraq. This needs to be done carefully, but the Sunnis have to see that they have a stake in a peaceful, integrated Iraq. -- Tom Beck my LiveJournal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/tomfodw/ New York (Football) Giants: http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/Go_Big_Blue/ _The Universal Baseball Association, J. Henry Waugh, Prop._ Fan Club: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/j_henry_waugh/ I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I never thought I'd see the last. - Dr. Jerry Pournelle -- ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: March for Women's Lives
Mike Lee wrote: They don't work very hard. And if they do, it's because they're neurotic or incompetent. Gosh, Mike, how many kids have you raised? 'Cause we all know how darn easy that one is. I frankly can't imagine doing the job my wife does. I far prefer having my real job. Why is anyone even bothering to respond to this guy? It's clear to me he's just trolling, flapping his gums, saying outrageous stuff to try to provoke a response. So why give him the satisfaction of being provoked? (Or, if he really means it, then he deserves to be ignored anyway for being an offensive, ignorant, mean-spirited butthead.) Either way, let's wrap this up, please? -- Tom Beck my LiveJournal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/tomfodw/ New York (Football) Giants: http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/Go_Big_Blue/ _The Universal Baseball Association, J. Henry Waugh, Prop._ Fan Club: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/j_henry_waugh/ I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I never thought I'd see the last. - Dr. Jerry Pournelle -- ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Da Vinci: Inventor of Car?
Leonardo da Vinci is revered around the world as a master of Renaissance painting and an ingenious engineer, but few have thought of him as the father of the modern car. But on Friday, the Museum of History and Science in Florence -- the heart of Renaissance Italy -- unveiled the first automobile built based on some of the sketches from da Vinci's famous notebooks. The automobile -- which in fact looks more like a wagon -- is by no means the first invention discovered in da Vinci's mysterious manuscripts, which include flying machines, helicopters, submarines, military tanks and bicycles. With all due respect to Leonardo, he envisioned these things, he did not invent them. Just as, for example, Larry Niven dreamed up the Puppeteers' General Products #1 Hull, but he never actually invented one. -- Tom Beck my LiveJournal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/tomfodw/ New York (Football) Giants: http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/Go_Big_Blue/ I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I never thought I'd see the last. - Dr. Jerry Pournelle -- ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Da Vinci: Inventor of Car?
To be fair, Leonardo did design the device, as opposed to Niven just describing his hulls. I realized that after I posted. And it is possible that one was actually built by Leonardo. I recall that some of Leonardo's designs have actually been built and that they worked. IIRC a pump is the best example. How far do you have to take an idea along the road to a finished product before it could be considered an invention? Don't think there's any hard-and-fast rule. More than a sketch, I suppose, and less than a fully working model. Schematics, a real sense of the physical principles involved, something that would enable an engineer to figure out how to build it. Anything along those lines, up to and including a prototype and/or a patent application? -- Tom Beck my LiveJournal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/tomfodw/ New York (Football) Giants: http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/Go_Big_Blue/ I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I never thought I'd see the last. - Dr. Jerry Pournelle -- ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
What's for dinner (Was: Re: When there are no human hands...)
Actually, the tree is in a supperpositon of up and down until an observer forces it into an eigenstate. :-) Mmm...supper... -- Tom Beck my LiveJournal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/tomfodw/ I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I never thought I'd see the last. - Dr. Jerry Pournelle -- ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Thousands Turned Away from the Polls in CA on super tuesday
We're sorry for the inconvenience of the voters, Urosevich said. Inconvenience? To call that putting it mildly is putting it mildly. Weren't they actually disenfranchised? asked Tony Miller, chief counsel to the state's elections division. After a moment, Urosevich agreed: Yes, sir. Duh! Flanked by most of California's local elections officials and advocates for the blind and speakers of minority-language, Diebold executives and attorneys pleaded for one more chance. Uh-uh. Put these mother-fuckers out of business NOW. State elections officials were dismayed to find that Diebold had sold and installed thousands of its new TSx machines in the state without getting them tested, nationally qualified and even before applying for state certification. I understand your frustration, said Diebold chief developer Tab Iredell. Why did we sell something that we didn't think we could run? Our understanding based on past experience was we thought we could get that certified. Why did they sell it? To make money, of course. That's the only value of capitalism. That's why Republicans and other tub-thumpers for deregulation are their own worst enemies. Capitalists need government to keep capitalists from ruining capitalism. Obviously there's plenty of blame to go around here - the county clearly did a poor job. But unquestionably the bulk of the blame here goes to Diebold. Whose CEO (Wally O'Dell) is a major Republican donor and Bush backer and has promised to deliver Ohio's electoral votes to Bush. And we're supposed to give HIM a second chance? So they can steal another election? For more on Diebold's LONG history of screw-ups (and worse), go to www.blackboxvoting.com and www.blackboxvoting.org. -- Tom Beck my LiveJournal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/tomfodw/ I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I never thought I'd see the last. - Dr. Jerry Pournelle -- ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Low cal for long life?
I won't be trying this: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4783035/ -- Tom Beck my LiveJournal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/tomfodw/ I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I never thought I'd see the last. - Dr. Jerry Pournelle -- ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Battlestar Galactica starts production
Galactica Launches SCI FI Channel's upcoming original series Battlestar Galactica begins production this week in Vancouver, B.C., the network announced. Based on the December 2003 miniseries that became the most-watched cable miniseries of the year, Galactica returns to SCI FI Channel as a one- hour weekly drama in early 2005. Richard Hatch, who starred as Apollo in the original 1970s Battlestar Galactica TV series, will make a special guest appearance in an early episode of the new show, playing a Nelson Mandela-like figure, Peter Zarek. Having spent the last 20 years in jail for inciting civil unrest against the government of the 12 Colonies of Kobol, Zarek and his followers riot against the leadership of the ragtag fleet, taking over the vessel on which they are being held and creating a hostage situation, which Adama (Edward James Olmos) and President Roslin (Mary McDonnell) must resolve. The show reunites miniseries stars Olmos, McDonnell, Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck) and Tricia Helfer (Number Six) with the rest of the Galactica cast. The series is executive produced by Ronald D. Moore and David Eick. Michael Rymer, who directed the four-hour mini, returns to direct the series' premiere episode. -- Tom Beck my LiveJournal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/tomfodw/ I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I never thought I'd see the last. - Dr. Jerry Pournelle -- ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: David Frum on the Woodward Allegations
Not that I necessarily agree with it, but I thought I'd post this rejoinder. I'm always a fan of let's think about who's leaking this story analysis of news coverage, and David Frum* has one which I don't necessarily beleive, but is nevertheless thought-provoking: http://www.nationalreview.com/frum/diary041904.asp APR. 19, 2004: CONSPIRACY THEORY After 24 hours, its agreed that the biggest news to emerge from Bob Woodwards book is the allegation that the Saudis promised to manipulate the price of oil to help President Bushs re-election. John Kerry had this to say yesterday in Florida: If what Bob Woodward reports is true that gas supplies and prices in America are tied to the American election, then tied to a secret White House deal that is outrageous and unacceptable. But is it true? Ask yourself this: Who could have been Woodwards source for this claim? Only one person: the canny Prince Bandar, Saudi Arabias ambassador to the United States and a frequent purveyor of titillating items to selected journalists. Next question: If such a deal existed, what motive could Prince Bandar have for revealing it? The revelation could only hurt Bush, the candidate Bandar was allegedly trying to help. Logical next thought: If, however, Bandar wanted to hurt Bush, then the revelation makes a great deal of sense. But why would Bandar want to hurt Bush? Dont a hundred conspiracy books tell us that the Bush family are thralls of Saudi oil money? Perhaps the Saudis dont think so. Perhaps they see President Bushs Middle East policy as a threat to their dominance and even survival. What could after all be a worse nightmare for Saudi Arabia than a Western-oriented, pluralistic Iraq pumping all the oil it can sell? In other words, if what Bob Woodward reports is true, then the Saudis are meddling to defeat Bush, not elect him. A response to this from Tapped (http://www.prospect.org/weblog/): FRUM'S JUJITSU. One of the great mysteries of recent years is how the Bush administration's strongest backers managed also to be fierce critics of Saudi Arabia, a country whose close ties to the President are the stuff of legend. Bob Woodward's allegation in Plan of Attack that the administration struck a deal with Saudi ambassador Prince Bandar to keep oil prices high and then drop them just in time for the 2004 election threatened to take cognitive dissonance to new heights. There are a number of ways in which this story reflects very poorly on the president, but the clear implication that the Saudi government wants to see Bush re-elected should certainly cause a neoconservative or two to re-think his attitude toward the administration. David Frum, author of the fiercely anti-Saudi An End to Evil, but also a former member of the administration, is having none of it: Ask yourself this: Who could have been Woodward's source for this claim? Only one person: the canny Prince Bandar, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States and a frequent purveyor of titillating items to selected journalists. Next question: If such a deal existed, what motive could Prince Bandar have for revealing it? The revelation could only hurt Bush, the candidate Bandar was allegedly trying to help. Logical next thought: If, however, Bandar wanted to hurt Bush, then the revelation makes a great deal of sense. But why would Bandar want to hurt Bush? Don't a hundred conspiracy books tell us that the Bush family are thralls of Saudi oil money? Perhaps the Saudis don't think so. Perhaps they see President Bush's Middle East policy as a threat to their dominance and even survival. What could after all be a worse nightmare for Saudi Arabia than a Western-oriented, pluralistic Iraq pumping all the oil it can sell? In other words, if what Bob Woodward reports is true, then the Saudis are meddling to defeat Bush, not elect him. Cheney's razor -- a philosophical rule that the most complex explanation of an unknown phenomenon is probably correct -- rears its ugly head once again! This could be right, but it's a mighty big stretch. Given the decades-long closeness between the Bush family and the House of Saud and the President's very kind treatment of Saudi Arabia throughout his first term in office -- it makes a lot more sense to assume that things here are exactly as they appear: Bandar was trying to help Bush because Bandar likes Bush. One also has to question the premise that the second Gulf War has created some kind of nightmare for the Saudi government. Saddam Hussein posed no direct threat to the United States, but he was a threat to Saudi Arabia and there's no reason whatsoever to think that, as Frum implies, Iraq is going to bust-up the OPEC cartel. Certainly the new geopolitical configuration in the Middle East creates an opportunity for America to put some distance between ourselves and the Saudis, but that's only going to be meaningful if
Re: Low cal for long life?
So I just need to work out how to combine that with Atkins and I could live forever! Reminds me of the old joke, Wanna live longer? Give up rich food, alcohol, desserts, sex, and fun. You won't live longer, it'll just FEEL longer. -- Tom Beck my LiveJournal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/tomfodw/ I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I never thought I'd see the last. - Dr. Jerry Pournelle -- ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: This time I won't blame Bush
What about workers who put profit over their own lives? Huh? -- Tom Beck my LiveJournal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/tomfodw/ I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I never thought I'd see the last. - Dr. Jerry Pournelle -- ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: victory in Iraq
The campaign in Iraq cannot be considered a success until Baghdad becomes the cultural capital of the Arab world, producing not less than 200 Arabic films a year: comedies, family dramas, stories of Arab boys who have triumphed over adversity to become doctors, scientists and explorers in outer space. No stories of Arab girls? In my opinion, no Arab country or society can hope to even begin progressing until it at least starts to bring about substantive sexual equality. (Which, ironically, might have to be at least started using undemocratic means.) As long as they keep their women in the dark, their entire countries are going to be suffocating right there in the darkness too. -- Tom Beck my LiveJournal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/tomfodw/ I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I never thought I'd see the last. - Dr. Jerry Pournelle -- ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: This time I won't blame Bush
Such as anyone employed in a risky profession, e.g., coal mining, test pilot, working for Haliburton in Iraq . . . That's their personal choice to put themselves in harm's way. People working for a company that deliberately subjects them to danger - only a jerk would argue that it's their personal choice to work in hazardous conditions. There's no real comparison at all. -- Tom Beck my LiveJournal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/tomfodw/ I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I never thought I'd see the last. - Dr. Jerry Pournelle -- ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Battlestar Galactica
Where did this first air, on cable, network? It originally aired on the Sci Fi Channel over 2 nights (Dec. 8-9, 2003). The reviews were mostly good, the ratings were excellent, and most fans seemed to like it. Did this become a series and, if so, is it living up to its potential? It was touch-and-go for awhile, whether or not Sci Fi would green light a new series (apparently they had to crunch the numbers to decide if it would pay for itself), but in February they announced a new series. Production is to start this summer and it will begin airing on Sci Fi early next year. -- Tom Beck my LiveJournal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/tomfodw/ I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I never thought I'd see the last. - Dr. Jerry Pournelle -- ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: The Return Of The Cows
Jewish Capitalism: You have two cows. You set them on fire and they burn for 8 days. Actually, it should be: Jewish Capitalism: You have two cows. You complain they never call you. --- Tom Beck my LiveJournal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/tomfodw/ I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I never thought I'd see the last. - Dr. Jerry Pournelle --- ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Alternate History
On Apr 14, 2004, at 12:23 PM, Gautam Mukunda wrote: Furthermore, most Iraqis _do_ seem to be happy that we're there. So that prediction too, is not inaccurate. If you thought that some Iraqis wouldn't oppose our presence before the war, it's because you weren't paying attention and nothing else. Then I guess Cheney, Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld, Bush, etc., weren't paying attention, because they're the ones who went in expecting to be greeted as liberators. Tom Beck ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Alternate History
Which is fine, since we didn't _get_ a high number of American casualties. Any death is a tragedy, and the death of any American soldier is an immense tragedy. But the British lost 40,000 people in the first few hours of the Somme. We lost ~50,000 in Vietnam. We've lost less than 600 people in a year in Iraq. By any measure that's an astonishingly low rate of casualties. Unless you're one of them. I find it disquieting that it's always the noncombatant conservatives who so sanguinely accept any casualties at all. If it was one of your relatives, I doubt you'd be so dismissive of les than 600. Especially considering that the soldiers who have died and been wounded and had their tours of duty endlessly extended and the rest of the country and the entire world were lied to about why the US invaded Iraq and those less than 600 died (most of them since Bush disgustingly went on board that aircraft carrier and declared combat over). Do you think the American people would have supported this war if we knew in February 2003 what we know now, that Iraq does not - and DID NOT - have WMD? No matter how much your bones shriek that we needed to free the Iraqi people of a tyrant, would that alone have sufficed to generate American support for the war? I don't think so. Under those circumstances, even a single American casualty is too many. To have more people die since the end of major combat operations than before, and to have them die because they and we were lied to - and because this Administration obviously was completely unprepared for occupying Iraq after so easily conquering it - is disgraceful. -- Tom Beck my LiveJournal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/tomfodw/ I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I never thought I'd see the last. - Dr. Jerry Pournelle -- ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
World's greatest fantasy writer?
Is it too late to nominate William Safire (op-ed columnist for the NY Times, former-and-eternal apologist for Nixon) for the World Fantasy Award? Because the opening paragraph of his column in today's Times certainly merits a nod: Democrats worry that President Bush is slumping too soon. Six months from now, with the economy surging at a 4 percent rate and peace breaking out in the Greater Middle East, today's seeming-underdog incumbent could easily come roaring back to win going away. William Safire is going to be the last human being (possibly the last carbon-based lifeform) to recognize, or at least to admit, that the USA is getting bogged down in a nightmare in Iraq that is not going to end early or well (certainly not both). He may be right about the economy (I'm not sure any recovery will be uniformly spread enough to help Bush in states like Ohio and Michigan), but I don't see any easy solution to Iraq. What's worse, based on his press conference last night, neither does George W. Bush. I suppose Safire could be trying to fool us. But it certainly sounds as if he has succeeded in fooling himself. -- Tom Beck my LiveJournal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/tomfodw/ I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I never thought I'd see the last. - Dr. Jerry Pournelle --___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Radiation and politicians
A guy by the name of Perry Campbell on another mailing list I'm on had the following to say about radiation at the Capitol in Austin: On the radiation question - take a Geiger counter to the state capitol and measure the background from all the granite - you might re-think having protests way up there on the steps, or at least take a safer location in the back of the crowd, and get some carbon-based shielding between you and the source. I find it very reassuring that the capitol building is radioactive, and that is where we keep our politicians. I found this amusing, and I share it hoping that someone else will, as well. :) Only problem is, the Texas Legislature meets only every other year for a few weeks. The rest of the time, all that lovely radiation is bothersomely endangering staffers, maintenance workers, police, security, press, tourists, etc. It's impossible to keep politicians caged. Sooner or later, they always seem to manage to escape. -- Tom Beck my LiveJournal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/tomfodw/ I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I never thought I'd see the last. - Dr. Jerry Pournelle -- ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Alternate History
Are you arguing that one American life is worth more than 10, 100, 1000, 10,000 lives in Iraq? I hope not, but this post makes it sound to me that you do. Clarification would be appreciated...especially if I misunderstood what you wrote. I didn't realize it would come out that way, which was not my intention. -- Tom Beck my LiveJournal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/tomfodw/ I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I never thought I'd see the last. - Dr. Jerry Pournelle -- ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Alternate History
I'll say it again. In 1997 a Jordanian asked me why America was killing 1000 babies a month with sanctions against Iraq. Except, it wasn't America killing those babies - it was Saddam Hussein. I never could stomach Arabs (or anyone else) letting him off the hook. His people were starving and he was building more palaces. Even when he was permitted to sell some oil, he stole the money. But nobody ever blamed him. -- Tom Beck my LiveJournal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/tomfodw/ I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I never thought I'd see the last. - Dr. Jerry Pournelle -- ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Alternate History
And we were. I can only imagine how much that must have upset you, Tom, how much it must have _burned_ to see people celebrating their liberation by Americans. My joy at the sight was probably equaled by your pain. Greeted as liberators didn't mean that _everyone_ felt that way. But at least a majority not only did, they still seem to. Doesn't burn me at all. And your attempt to demean me does not at all change the fact that hope is not a plan, and to go in with a hope of being recognized as liberators is not a substitute for understanding the extreme difficulties involved in switching from being liberators to occupiers. Especially as, we went in under false pretenses! -- Tom Beck my LiveJournal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/tomfodw/ I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I never thought I'd see the last. - Dr. Jerry Pournelle -- ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
